While deaf children learning American Sign Language (ASL) from deaf caregivers generally develop along typical trajectories, some have been skeptical that deaf children who have hearing caregivers—the majority of deaf children—can similarly benefit from ASL exposure. This study tracked ASL fluency and academic achievement among a large sample of children for 4 years. Children with hearing caregivers who entered the school before age 3 (i.e., participated in early intervention) reliably had comparable academic achievement to deaf children who have deaf caregivers. The relationship between early entry and academic achievement was partially, but not entirely, mediated by increased ASL skills. The results should assuage concern that deaf children with hearing caregivers cannot benefit from sign language–focused bilingual education and instead illustrate that early bilingual education can have long-term benefits for academic growth.

中文翻译：

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听力正常的聋哑儿童的预期语言和学业成绩


虽然聋哑儿童从聋哑照顾者那里学习美国手语 (ASL) 通常会沿着典型的轨迹发展，但有些人怀疑有听力正常照顾者的聋哑儿童（大多数聋哑儿童）是否也能从接触 ASL 中受益。这项研究对大样本儿童的 ASL 流利程度和学业成绩进行了 4 年的追踪。 3 岁之前入学（即参加早期干预）的有听力看护者的儿童的学业成绩确实与有聋人看护者的聋哑儿童相当。早期入学和学业成绩之间的关系部分但不完全是由美国手语技能的提高所调节的。研究结果应该会缓解人们的担忧，即有听力照顾者的聋哑儿童无法从以手语为重点的双语教育中受益，反而表明早期双语教育可以对学业成长产生长期好处。